The Celeste Jackson Chronicles
by E. M. Zeray
Summary: Percy and Annabeth have finally had a daughter. They have to find the perfect name, deal with monsters, not to mention boyfriends. Her name is Celeste and her parents are heroes of Olympus, but is her life going to be as exciting as her parents?
1. Preface

**A/N: Yay! They have a daughter! And this is her story. It's still a whole bunch of Percy and Annabeth, Nico, Rachel, Grover, Chiron, Travis, Connor, more of the Camp Half Blood kids, and the gods will be in it, too, but it's basically a bunch of moments in her life. Read and review!**

Annabeth Jackson, 33 years old, was standing at the sink, staring at a little pregnancy test, tears in her eyes. Percy, her husband of 5 years, was on his way home from work because she had called him, distressed. After convincing the taxi driver to break multiple traffic laws in order to get home faster, he ran up the stairs and nearly broke down the front door.

"Annabeth?" he called. He walked into the bedroom and saw her standing against the counter in the adjoining bathroom. "What's wrong?"

"Percy." She looked up, smiling. Tears were still falling from her eyes. "I'm pregnant."

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"You want what?"

"Chocolate. Lots of it. And, um, cheese crackers. And those weird popsicles we hate so much?"

"The banana ones?"

"Yeah—I want those."

Percy sighed, nodding. He kissed his wife's forehead and headed for the door.

"Wait! And spinach. And ravioli, with the lobster in the middle?"

"Do you wanna just make me a list?"

"No, it's really not that much! Just that and then a bottle of red wine—ya know the doctor said I could have half a glass a night, still?"

"Yeah, yeah."

"And ice cream!"

"We have ice cream."

"I know—I want the rocky road ice cream. With the marshmallows."

"Annabeth, just make a list."

"No! Trust me, it's easy to remember."

Ten more items later, Percy was clumsily writing down things on his hand.

"I love you," she told him as he walked towards the door.

"Yeah, I know."

0000000000

The doctor had just finished rubbing what looked like whale snot on Annabeth's expanding tummy when she asked how the couple was handling the pregnancy. They exchanged a glance.

"Pretty good."

"You ready to know the sex?"

Annabeth squeezed Percy's hand. "I am if you are."

Percy took a deep breath and nodded.

The doctor moved the wand over to the left side of Annabeth's belly and smiled. "It's a girl. Congratulations, Mr. and Mrs. Jackson. You have a baby girl."

Annabeth beamed and Percy looked ecstatic.

"Have you guys talked about names, yet?"

"Um, no, not yet."

"Well, no rush, but now that you know, it might be a good idea."

0000000000

Annabeth sighed, looking over her list. "Sara, Rebecca, Shannon, Abby—"

"None of them fit."

She nodded. "I know. We just haven't found the right name, yet. Don't worry; we will."

"Annabeth, you're due in two weeks!"

"So? Relax, we'll find the name."

The discussed, argued, checked websites and books for hours. Finally, Annabeth sighed and stood from the couch.

"I'm going to bed."

"That reminds me—you're not gonna keep your knife in the side table drawer anymore, are you?"

"Of course!"

Percy sighed. "Annabeth…"

"Oh, relax. Like she's gonna get a hold on my knife. Besides, it's celestial bronze, so…" She paused and Percy stood, walking into the bedroom. "It's celestial," she muttered again. "Celeste."

"What?"

"Celeste. It's the name."

Percy arched an eyebrow. "Celeste?" He smiled. "Celeste. Celeste!" He hugged Annabeth as best he could with her big belly, kissing her. "It's the name."

Annabeth grinned. "Celeste Anne Jackson."

"It's the name," he repeated, kissing her once more. "It's our daughter, Annabeth. It's _our_ daughter."

0000000000

"I. HATE. YOU."

"I'm sure you do, dear, just keep pushing."

She screamed, squeezing his hand tighter. Percy was sure that if he hadn't been invulnerable, he would have been in a lot of pain, possibly cutting off circulation, but even so, he still wouldn't have let go. Annabeth looked sweaty and in pain, legs propped up, hair falling out of her ponytail, sticking to her cheeks. She squeezed his hand tighter still as another contraction hit.

"Keep pushing," one of the doctors instructed.

She screamed, doing as she was told.

"You're doing great, sweetheart."

"Shut. Up."

"I love you, too."

"One more big push!"

The loudest scream of them all and Annabeth was relaxing back against the pillows, eyes closed. Percy kissed her forehead. The room was silent for a second and then the piercing cry of a child hit the air.

Percy grinned, looking at his wife. "She's here, Annabeth."

"Is she beautiful?"

"Gorgeous, just like her mother."

She smiled. "I didn't mean what I said, Percy. I love you."

"I know."

"I need a nap."

He chuckled. "I know. The doctors are going to get you cleaned up, okay? And then you can hold her."

As he stood, a nurse smiled at him, holding a little pink bundle. "Mr. Jackson, here's your daughter."

The nurse showed him how to hold her, and Percy felt tears flowing down his cheeks as he held his daughter. She was beautiful. She had little blonde hairs sticking out from the top of her head in a puff. Her eyes were a beautiful sea green and she was staring up at him with them wide open, her perfect pink lips pursed. Her gaze made it seem like she knew who he was.

"Hello, beautiful," he said, laughing away his tears. "Welcome to the world."

Annabeth glanced over at him. "Are you crying?"

"Yeah, yeah, just don't tell Nico."

"What color are her eyes?"

Percy smiled. "Green." He glanced at her and noticed she was crying, too. "She's beautiful. Your hair, my eyes. She's perfect."

"Celeste Anne Jackson," Annabeth muttered. "Our daughter."

**A/N: There's gonna be a bunch of different shots—days at school, going to camp, meeting Nico and everybody, etc, etc… It's definitely in NO PARTICULAR ORDER, meaning the next shot could be about her wedding and the one after that is her at 2 years old. I hope you guys like it, reviews are awesome!**

**Love,**

**E. M. Zeray**

**PS: I'm also working on two other multi chapter stories, "First," and "In Fear and Love," so this story will be getting as much attention as the others, but that might not be much cuz school's starting and I have camp, etc, etc… But I hope you guys keep reading!**


	2. Camp and Swimming

"Uncle Nico?"

The tall, brooding adult looked down at little two year old Celeste. Her blonde hair was in pigtails tied with green bows. She was tugging on the end of his T-shirt. He got onto his knees, scooping up the girl he liked to call his niece into his arms.

"Yes, beautiful?"

"Where are we going?"

They were walking up Half-Blood Hill. Nico smiled and looked at Percy. "A camp."

"What camp?"

Nico sighed and Percy took his daughter into his arms. "You'll love it. There's this real nice guy named Chiron, and there's a beautiful lake—"

"Yay!" Celeste clapped her hands, moving up to touch her father's cheek. "I like water."

"I know. And there's a really nice girl named Rachel, and you remember Uncle Grover and Aunt Juniper? And Uncle Tyson?"

"Tyson!" she squealed happily. Percy kissed her forehead, laughing.

"Percy," Annabeth sighed, reaching for her daughter, "I wanna hold her."

Percy rolled his eyes. "Get your own daughter."

Annabeth swatted him, grabbing her daughter. They walked fully into the camp and just stood for a moment, staring. It hadn't changed much in the 2 years they had been away, but when they paused, everyone did, too, staring. Whispers went through the crowd. Finally, Percy spotted Chiron in centaur form standing by the Big House. The group walked over to him.

"Percy, my boy!" he exclaimed. "Annabeth, and Nico, too! Well, what brings you…" He trailed off, looking at the little girl in Annabeth's arms.

Celeste's eyes grew wide. "Horsey!"

Chiron grinned widely, not bothering to argue with the little one. "Well, this must be the one you told me so much about. Her father's eyes, her mother's hair… She's beautiful."

"Say 'thank you', Celeste," Annabeth told her.

"Thank you!" Celeste was still smiling widely. "Horsey can talk."

Chiron laughed. "I'm a centaur, my dear."

Her eyebrows scrunched together, confused. "Sen-tor?" she said, tiny hands holding onto her mother's shirt.

Chiron just chuckled again. "Are you here for the day?"

"The weekend, actually," Nico said. "I'm gonna go set up in my cabin. Good to see you again, Chiron."

"Same to you, Nico."

He walked away and Percy kissed Annabeth's cheek. "I'll grab the bag from the car. We wanted Celeste to get a camp experience before she grows up."

"She's not going to turn 16 tomorrow, Percy."

He shrugged. "I know."

He began to walk back down the hill and eyes and whispers followed him.

"That's Percy Jackson."

"Son of Poseidon."

"Saved Olympus when he was 16."

"The guy from the last prophecy."

"He's dreamy."

"He's old!"

"Wow, what's he doing here?"

Celeste played with her mother's hair as Annabeth and Chiron talked.

"She turned 2 last week," she told him. "I think Percy and I were having camp withdrawal, so we wanted to take her here. Is Rachel here?"

"I believe she's waiting for Nico in his cabin."

"Ah," Annabeth said, smirking. It was a rumor that the Oracle and the son of Hades had a forbidden romance going on, but only Nico's friends knew how true that rumor was. "Clarisse?"

"Leading a quest, actually."

"Mr. D?"

Chiron smiled. "He's in the Big House. Some children of your old generation are here. The Stoll brothers, Katie Gardner, some Aphrodite girls… I believe Grover is waiting for you two as well. Last I heard, he was very excited to see your daughter once more."

Annabeth nodded. When she looked over her shoulder, she noticed a group of campers assembling, watching her. "It looks like Percy and I have fans."

"Oh, yes. Grover was busy telling stories all yesterday. He told them everything about your first quest together, when you saved him and the Golden Fleece, when he rescued you from Mount Tam, when you two went into the Labyrinth with him and Tyson, who is waiting in his cabin, and to the war. They were all awestruck. Connor, of course, butted in and began his own version of what happened the night of Percy's 16th birthday." He gave her a meaningful look. "When I believe you and Percy were tossed into the lake together?"

Annabeth laughed, understanding Connor's exaggeration. Suddenly, an arm went around her. Percy was back.

"Nice to see you again, Chiron," he said. "We'll talk after dinner, okay?"

The centaur nodded, waving them on their way. As the couple walked to the Poseidon cabin, Percy took his daughter in his arms.

"You excited for camp?" he asked her.

She nodded. "Daddy, why are people looking at you?"

He smiled, glancing around. "I'll explain one day."

Celeste wrapped her arms around her father's neck and closed her eyes. In seconds, she was asleep.

0000000000

"Percy? Are you sure this is safe?" Annabeth was sitting on the beach in a bikini—after much persuasion from Percy saying that she wasn't fat from her child and looked absolutely gorgeous—and on a towel, Celeste in her lap.

Percy was in the water. "Of course it is! She's my daughter, after all."

They were discussing whether or not to let Celeste into the water. She hadn't begun swim lessons, much to Percy's displeasure, but Percy knew how much time Celeste loved to spend in the bath, and her natural attraction to water, so was sure that as long as he and her grandfather kept an eye on her, she would be fine.

There were other campers around them, swimming. One of them Percy had just me the other day. His half-brother, Michael, and his crush, an Apollo girl named Kelly. Riley, Michael's twin, was deeper in the water.

Percy emerged from the water, picked up his daughter, gave his wife a wink when she ogled his naked chest—even at their age, Percy was strong, and just as well built as he had been years ago—and walked back to the water. Celeste squealed happily.

Percy stayed where the water was up to his hips, holding her. "Watch this," he told her, holding out his hand and creating a little bubble. "You wanna try?"

She nodded enthusiastically. Percy walked deeper into the water, and Celeste stuck out her hand. Her face scrunched in concentration. Percy chuckled, but let his daughter try to create a little bubble.

Eventually, she let her arm fall back at her side. "It's hard!" she insisted.

"I know, sweetie. Let's try again, okay?"

She sighed and Percy formed a little chair of water on top of the water, setting her down. She looked at it and giggled, clapping excitedly. She was obviously amused that her father could manipulate the substance like that.

He grabbed her hand and put them under the water together, carefully forming a little bubble. She laughed. "Bubble!"

"Bubble," he repeated.

"Bigger bubble!" she told him, focusing her power and making it grow. Percy grinned and removed his hand. Celeste was doing it on her own now. "Yay! Bubble!" Her joyous laugh made her lose her concentration the bubble popped. She pouted.

Percy kissed her forehead. "You wanna go underwater?"

"Undawater?"

"Yeah."

She nodded, the smile back on her face.

"Percy, I don't think that's such a good idea," Annabeth called.

"Oh, like Poseidon would let his own granddaughter drown."

Annabeth rolled her eyes and didn't speak.

"Alright, sweetie, hold your breath, okay?"

Celeste gulped in a big breath of air, her cheeks poofing out theatrically. Percy fought the urge to laugh. Her eyes widened and the sea-green stared at him. He grinned widely.

"Ready?"

She nodded.

"Here we go." He gently brought her under the water and she smiled, giggling and letting her breath out. Her mouth formed an O as she realized she could breathe. He laughed. "Amazing," he whispered to himself. "I bet you're just as smart as your mother, too."

**A/N: School is going to start soon and I have Band camp next week, so my updating schedule will be weekends, mostly Sundays. Thank you all so much for reading this and don't forget to check out my other stories! Please review.**

**Love always,**

**E. M. Zeray**


	3. Boys

13 year olds Alyssa and Celeste were sitting in the food court at the mall, reading new purchased books over cups of Ben and Jerry's ice cream. Alyssa was gnawing on her lip as she read, completely focused on the words in front of her. Amazingly, Celeste and her best friend were completely different, but totally compatible, and for some reason, it worked. A strand of artificial black hair fell in front of Alyssa's eyes and she pushed her glasses onto the top of her head, holding the hair in place.

Celeste, her blonde hair tied up as it always was when she ate, picked at her ice cream, and then turned the page of her book. Alyssa looked up.

"How do you read with dyslexia?"

Celeste shrugged. "It's just harder," she muttered, not even looking up from her book. It was a tradition of the girls to spend Saturday at the mall, go to a movie, buy a new book, read it in the food court over ice cream, and then go over to one of their apartments and spend the night.

"Whoa," Alyssa whispered, staring at something over Celeste's shoulder. "Check him out."

Celeste turned and noticed the boy walking towards Border's. Alyssa grinned.

"Come on. Let's go."

She stood before her friend could stop her and Celeste reluctantly followed. Alyssa slipped back inside the bookstore, casually glancing at books and then back at the boy who must've been at least two years older than them. He was tall, but only about an inch or two taller than the two already taller-than-average-girls. Dirty blonde hair was falling in his eyes as he headed towards the back of the store.

"Where are we going?" Celeste hissed to her friend.

"Come on! He'll notice us eventually."

Alyssa noticed the boy stopped around the Mystery/Thriller section and ran a hand down the newest James Patterson book. She grinned and kept walking, stopping one row in front of him. She leaned close to her friend. "Say something to him?"

Celeste blushed. "Me? Why?"

"Well, isn't he cute?"

"Um, yeah, but he's in high school!"

"So? Flirting is harmless!"

Celeste still looked skeptical, but she kept glancing at the boy. He had headphones in his ears and was gazing intently at the books as if searching for something specific. Rolling her eyes, Alyssa walked around the aisle, glancing at the books. The boy glanced at her. He had blue eyes. Alyssa smiled.

"Hi, there," she said.

"'Sup?"

"Nothing much. What are you listening to?"

"Boys Like Girls."

Alyssa grinned, looking at Celeste. "My friend Celeste loves that band, don't ya, Celeste?"

Celeste blushed. "Um, yeah, I guess so."

The boy smiled at her. "Cool."

"Ya know, Celeste, I hafta go check out some book in the Young Adult section. Why don't you talk to…"

"Simon."

"Simon about the band, and…stuff."

Alyssa gave her best friend a little finger wave and walked off. Simon smirked at Celeste. "Great friend. Leaving you high and dry with a strange boy."

"Eh, you're not so strange."

He smiled. "Good to know. So, where do you go to school?"

"Mason Middle."

"Ah, I'm corrupting you." At her confused look, he continued. "I'm a sophomore."

"Oh. Well…" Celeste bit her lip. "Maybe you could help me out with this whole high school thing. I'm going to Goode next year—"

"I go there. Maybe we'll see each other around campus next year."

Celeste nodded, sure she was blushing.

"Well, I have a swim meet there next Saturday. Maybe if you'd stay late I could show you around campus so you don't feel totally ignorant when you get there next year."

"That'd be awesome."

He walked around the shelf as if just realizing they had only been looking at each other's faces for the last two minutes. Not hesitating, he grabbed her hand—forcing a deeper blush from Celeste—and a pen from his pocket. He wrote down a 7 digit number.

"Call me, okay?"

She nodded. "Um, yeah."

He winked at her and walked back around the shelf to grab a book. "See ya around…Celeste."

"Bye…Simon."

Alyssa chose that moment to reappear, squealing. "Yes! You got his phone number! OMG, when we go to Abby's birthday party next week you are SO calling him, and—"

"Alyssa!" she hissed. Her best friend stopped and turned, noticing that Simon was now still watching them, smirking.

"Whoops."

**A/N: Review, please:) Also, we'll be seeing more of both Simon and Alyssa in the future… :)**

**Love,**

**E. M. Zeray**


	4. A Date

"I'm sorry; I must have heard you wrong. You're going out with who?"

"It's one date," Celeste muttered, fixing her hair in the mirror. Her two best friends sat on her bed as she primped. "He's just taking me to a movie."

"So he's cheap."

Celeste rolled her eyes. "Come on, Simon. Andrew's a nice guy."

Simon Hardison was sitting cross legged next to Alyssa Knox. They exchanged a glance.

"Listen, C, I know I'm your best friend I'm really, really happy that _Andrew Hughes_ asked you out, but he's a senior. A totally buff, hunky senior, but a senior nonetheless, and you're a freshman. There are rumors about what he does on his dates."

Celeste gnawed on her lip. She knew the rumors. And it wasn't like she was interested in Andrew, it was just that…Simon hadn't asked her out. For whatever reason, they had flirted shyly, hung out on weekends or after school, but he had never officially asked her out and both of their Facebook profiles still said, "Single." She just wanted to make him jealous. And it appeared to be working.

"He's not that hunky," Simon muttered.

"Okay, I'm done being protective. Holy Zeus, you're going out with Andrew Hughes!" Alyssa fanned herself with her hand. Earlier in the month, Celeste had told Alyssa about her parents and the gods and Alyssa, with her status as best friend, not to mention her belief that Greek gods were "totally effing awesome," instantly believed her. "Dammit, girl, this is going to be legendary."

Celeste turned from the mirror, pretending not to hear anything Alyssa had said, and smoothed her hands over her side. "What do you think?"

Alyssa smiled. "I told you already—you look awesome."

Simon ran his eyes over her a couple times and met her gaze. He swallowed. "Yeah, really awesome, Celeste."

She picked at the bracelets on her wrist and glanced back at Alyssa, ready for her advice. Sensing it, using her Best Friend Crisis Radar, Alyssa grabbed Celeste and forced to sit between her and Simon. "Acceptable times to be close include: if and/or when he does the cheesy yawn thing during the movie to put his arm around you, if you're holding hands at dinner, and if you're making out in the back seat of his car—if you stand too close to him when just walking, it's kind of…clingy or something."

"Wait—who says she's gonna be making out with him in the back seat of his car?"

Alyssa gave Simon a look. "It's Andrew Hughes."

"And she's Celeste Jackson."

"Are you saying she's not kissable?"

Celeste blushed. "Guys—"

"Well—I—that's not what I—"

Alyssa grinned. "You do think she's kissable. You wanna kiss her."

"Shut up," Celeste hissed. "Alyssa—"

"Stay out of it, Celeste," her best friend said, still sporting a semi-evil grin. "You wanna kiss her. You're jealous—you don't want her to go out with Andrew because you're jealous."

Simon laughed. "Yeah, like I would be jealous of that idiot."

"He's not an idiot," Celeste said instinctively.

Joy spread through Alyssa as Simon opened his mouth to argue. She could see where this was going. It was just like a cheesy sitcom. They would fight; they would kiss, announce their undying love for each other and live happily ever after. But before Simon could speak, Alyssa's phone rang. She inwardly cussed and took her phone into the hallway.

"Abby, this better be really important."

Meanwhile, in the bedroom, Simon groaned. "He's only interested in you because you're..." He paused. "Um…"

"Because I'm what?"

"You're…ya know…pretty."

Celeste rolled her eyes.

"Celeste, just don't go, okay? He's not your type."

"Oh, really, and what's my type?"

Simon shrugged and got a kind of embarrassed but eager glint in his eyes. "Me?"

She went speechless. Her mouth opened and closed like a fish out of water, gasping for breath while she was simply looking for words. She closed her eyes for a moment but snapped them back open when she felt something pressing against her lips.

_Oh my gods_, she screamed in her head_. Simon's…kissing me._

Her eyes fluttered closed.

_Wow, this feels really good._

His arms snaked around her waist, holding her tightly. She did the best she could to kiss him back but he pulled away quickly. "I'm sorry I didn't ask you out before that idiot did. Please give me a chance."

Celeste blinked.

"I was jealous. I am jealous. I want to be your first date, your first kiss, the first boy you take home to your parents, the boy you meet behind the bleachers during study hall, the boy that takes you to dances or hides in your apartment with you when you don't want to go to dances. I don't want you to have anything to do with that stupid Andrew Hughes. I just want you to want me." He brushed his nose against hers. "Please. Don't go tonight."

Celeste knew it was cheesy. She knew it was cliché and totally overused and completely boringly realistic that this is how her first kiss went, but that wasn't how it felt. Still…something inside her was splitting.

"Simon…"

"Please." His eyes searched hers for something—anything—that told him she cared about him. "Please don't go." When she didn't answer, he kissed her again. Slowly. Softly. Sweetly.

The door opened and Simon pulled away. Alyssa stood in the doorway, smirking.

"Wow, I sure picked the right moment to leave the room, didn't I?" She glanced at her phone, checking the time. "I suppose I'll meet Andrew at the theatre—hopefully he won't be too disappointed." She winked at Celeste and just before she closed the door, her best friend mouthed the words, _Thank you_, to her before pulling the boy of her dreams back into her arms.

**A/N: Now we all know their relationship isn't going to be easy but it's nice to begin with some romance, don't ya think?**

**Love,**

**E. M. Zeray**


	5. Poseidon, My Grandfather

Celeste took a deep breath as Carter Simmons circled her, sizing her up. He was a tall boy with a scar running from his left eye to his chin, but other than that, he had no features that told you he was any different from any other sophomore at Goode High. It was Celeste Jackson's first day of high school and it was turning into a disaster. She had come to the swimming pool to see if there were any posters for swim team or water polo tryouts since she wasn't sure where the office was and didn't seem to be able to find Simon Hardison, the junior she had befriended months earlier. But while she did manage to find the outdoor swimming pool surrounded by a fence and right next to a sandy volleyball court, she had also found a boy who was apparently a bully.

"You looking at my scar, Jackson?"

She had been. "No."

"Think it's ugly?"

"Wouldn't know."

"What are you doing here?"

"Looking for news about swim team tryouts."

"There's no girl's team, Jackson."

"I know."

Carter scoffed and faced her again. She met his eyes. She had faced bullies before. True, they had been shorter than this boy, much less frightening, and let's see…oh, yes, they'd all been females with her strength or weaker. This boy was big. He could easily overpower her and since her mother had taken away the dagger she normally carried in her boot, there was no way for her to fight him off.

"Jackson thinks she can try out for the boy's team, eh?"

"It's not a boy's team, Simmons," she spat, sounding stronger than she felt. "It's co-ed. There just aren't any girls on the team."

"You think you can swim good enough?"

Celeste bit her tongue.

"You do."

"Well, then, Jackson. Let's see you swim."

And with a shove, Celeste was falling into the 16 foot deep pool with her backpack, clothes, and shoes. Panic flooded her and she let water soak her to the skin. She couldn't breathe. Her backpack was tugging her down and it was like she suddenly had forgotten how to swim. Struggling, she kicked at nothing, trying to get back to the surface.

She slipped the backpack off her shoulders and kept holding her breath as she kicked off her heavy boots. But she was too far under and too oxygen deprived, too weak to swim to the surface, even with the extra weight gone. Within seconds, all she saw was black.

0000000000

There was a light. It sounds cheesy, but that's exactly what she saw: a ball of bluish white light, floating above…a boat. There was a man standing next to the boat with ghastly facial features.

"Charon," she whispered. All at once, tears overcame her. She was dead. Water, her family, her friend, had killed her.

The man whose name she had instantly known from her parents' stories looked up at her and recognition flashed on his face as if he knew that the two demigods that had left his master's world alive had created her.

But just as soon as he had appeared, he was gone and there was just blackness. There was a painful pounding on her chest and tightness in her throat. Then, the tightness cleared as she sucked in a deep breath and her eyes flew open. She coughed up water and the light streaming into her eyes cleared slightly. Looking down at her was the face of Simon Hardison. His blue eyes were gazing into hers worriedly.

"Oh, thank god," he whispered. "Are you alright?"

"I…" She looked around. She was lying on concrete that was stained with water. Her T-shirt, jean shorts, and formerly perfectly curly ponytail were now all sopping wet. Simon, above her, was also dripping. And…he wasn't wearing a shirt. But before she could dwell on this, he was brushing a piece of hair off her cheek and she became even more distracted.

"Your heart had stopped. I thought…" He shook his head as if the thought were ridiculous. "Are you okay?"

"You saved me?" she croaked, her voice hoarse.

He nodded. "I was walking to the parking lot and noticed Carter Simmons staring into the pool. He got this weird expression on his face, swore, and ran in the opposite direction. I went to check it out, and there you were, drifting on the bottom of the pool with your eyes closed and your mouth open. By the way, your stuff is still kinda…down there. I assumed you'd probably want me to save your life before your homework."

"Thanks."

"My pleasure. You still haven't answered my question, though." His hand lingered on the side of her face. "Are you okay?"

"Except for the slight damage to my pride and my stuff, I think I'm fine."

"Carter pushed you in?"

"He was taunting me. He said I couldn't swim."

"Can you?"

"Of course!" she said defensively. "I'm…" She caught herself before she said, "Poseidon's granddaughter." "Yes, I can swim." Celeste felt tears forming in her eyes. "I can't believe I let this happen. And I'm supposed to be the greatest…"

"Greatest swimmer? Relax, Celeste. You panicked. It's not your fault that that asshole pushed you into the water. You were wearing your backpack and everything."

"You don't understand."

"Obviously not." He glanced around and seemed to realize for the first time that he was hovering over her…horizontally. Blushing slightly, he sat up and offered her his hand. She took it and she sat up as well, looking around. There were still cars in the parking lot and the football team was on one half of the field, talking in a circle while band took the other half. Pep squad, in their tiny work out shorts and tank tops, was stretching before their first practice on the track. No one had noticed her except for Simon.

"I'm not supposed to be a bad swimmer," she told him, her voice cracking. "If I was a bad swimmer…well, that's like my dad drowning or my mom failing a test. It just doesn't fit."

"Celeste, it's _not your fault_. You panicked."

"But if I just focused I would have been able to breathe, and—"

"Celeste." She stopped and met his eyes. "What are you talking about?"

After a quick mental debate and the rationalization that the worst that could happen was a bit of embarrassment, she made a decision. "You should meet my grandparents."

"What?"

"Come on. We're taking a trip." She stood and wobbled slightly, her head still not totally working. Simon instantly held her still and Celeste tried not to focus on the fact that he had really great abdominal muscles and how closely she was pressed against them. "Uh…"

"I think you're drooling a little bit," he whispered.

She closed her mouth, but he still didn't let go of her. If anything, he held her a little tighter.

"Are you sure you're okay?"

"Mmhm," she said, nodding.

"So where are we going exactly?"

With his arms still around her, Celeste had trouble thinking, but managed it when she closed her eyes and didn't have to look into his beautiful blues or see how his—now wet—shaggy, blonde hair fell in front of them. "The Empire State Building."

"Why?"

"To meet my grandparents." She pushed away from him and glanced at the pool. "Um, you grab your shirt, I'll go grab a cab."

He glanced down, as if for the first time realizing he was shirtless. _So_ Matthew McConaughey.

While his back was turned, she summoned a wave in the pool to pick up her stuff, tossing it onto the side the pool, completely dry. She pulled on her boots and threw her backpack over her shoulder just as Simon turned back around.

"How…?"

"I'll explain later. Now come on."

0000000000

"You don't understand; I have to get up there."

The doorman nodded. "I know. And you're perfectly allowed, Celeste, but he's…not."

She rolled her eyes. "Stupid rules."

"Wait, your grandparents live in the Empire State Building?"

"Um, technically, yes." She turned back to the man. "I just need to see my grandfather. Or my grandmother. I don't really care. Well, considering the current situation, Poseidon would probably be best."

"Poseidon?" Simon asked. "Like the Greek God?"

The doorman laughed. "Yeah, kid. Exactly like that."

All three occupants of the large entry way glanced at the elevator as it dinged, announcing someone's arrival. A man with dark hair and eyes the same color as the sea he controlled, plus he was wearing a highly stylish Hawaiian shirt and cargo pants, stepped off the elevator.

"Grandpa!" Celeste said, giving the man a hug.

"Oh, gods; that makes me feel old," the older man laughed, returning the hug. "My dear, why are you…" He squinted in confusion at her wet curls and clothes and Celeste knew he was sensing her thoughts. "Oh. I see. And he…?"

She nodded.

Poseidon smiled warmly at the boy, releasing his granddaughter. "Well then, hello. My name is Poseidon."

Simon stuck out his hand. "Simon Hardison. Nice to meet you."

"You as well, my boy. I believe Celeste wishes for me to discuss something with you. Shall we take a seat?" He gestured to a bench to his left and Simon nodded, walking with him. When they sat, Celeste sat between them.

"I'm just going to ask you to listen, okay? I shouldn't have drowned. I shouldn't have been able to. See…it's because I'm related to Poseidon that I can…breathe under water and…do this." She touched Simon's knee and focused on the water soaking him to the skin disappearing. When it did, he looked up from his jeans and frowned. "I shouldn't have been able to let the water overpower me."

"You…he… I'm confused."

"My boy, I am Poseidon, god of the sea."

Simon glanced back and forth between the man he now thought delusional and the girl he had somewhat more than platonic feelings for who had just done something wonderful and unbelievable. Then he remembered how there had been her stuff sitting on the edge of the pool when he turned back around and how he had convinced himself his mind was playing tricks on him, that they had somehow not gone down with her when Carter had pushed her.

But it made sense. Too much sense.

"You can do stuff with water?" he asked Celeste.

She nodded. "That's why I'm such a great swimmer."

"So your grandfather…"

"Had my father with a mortal. He's a demigod. He met my mom, who is Athena's daughter, and fell in love, yadda yadda yadda, and now…I'm here, and I'm as wise as my mom and as water-loving as my dad. I'm a demigod."

"So…that's why you think you shouldn't have drowned."

"Exactly."

Poseidon cleared his throat and both teens turned to look at him. "Has he met your parents, yet?"

"No. We've barely become friends."

"Friends."

Celeste blushed. "Yes."

"Right." Poseidon gave Simon one last look. "Well, it appears that I was proof enough, so I best return to Olympus. It was nice to meet you, Simon."

"Y-you, too…Poseidon. My lord. Um…"

He chuckled before dissolving into an ocean mist.

"So Olympus is on top of the Empire State Building; your dad is the son of Poseidon; your mom is the daughter of Athena; you're a demigod that can control water and is really smart. Awesome."

Celeste smiled. "It gets easier, I promise."

Simon nodded and looked down. Celeste followed his gaze and realized she hadn't taken her hand off his knee. She blushed and pulled her hand back.

"Sorry."

He blushed but grabbed her hand in his own. Their eyes met. "When does it start to get easier?"

"Don't complain until the first monster shows up, okay?"

His eyes widened. "Monsters?"

"Don't worry." She stood, dropping his hand, and winked at him. "They get kinda fun after you've killed the first dozen or so."

**A/N: Aw… ;) Thanks for reading, please review!**

**Love,**

**E. M. Zeray**


	6. Are We Done? Not By a Long Shot

_I got your runaway smile in my piggybank, baby. Gonna cash it right in for a new Mercedes. You were worth the hundred thousand miles, but you couldn't stay a while._

Celeste sighed as she listened to the words flowing into her ears from her headphones. She was in bed, staring at the ceiling, wondering when her life had become this…empty. A single tear ran down her cheek and she wiped it away instantly, the only proof it had ever existed being her red eyes. Her heart cracked a little more as she rolled her side and stared at her phone.

Would he ever call her? Was this all a big misunderstanding or had he really… Had he really been late for their date because of studying or was it because he was studying Madison Park?

Celeste swung her feet over the side of her bed and sat up quickly when her phone rang. Her head hurt slightly, but she ignored it, reaching for the cell phone immediately. Caller ID told her it was exactly who she thought it would be.

"I'm gonna kill him," Alyssa shouted.

Celeste let herself smile a little bit. "Alyssa, I don't know if he—"

"What did Madison say exactly?"

"That Simon was with her last night."

In her apartment, Alyssa propped her feet up on her desk and scowled. "Bitch. She stole him! And he let her! Celeste, I think I have a plan. It's really quite simple, but it involves fire ants, his bed, and maybe some help from your grandmother. Ya know, the one…up there."

"I don't really wanna go anywhere, Alyssa."

"Not even Central Park?"

"Not tonight."

"Well it's not really 'tonight' anymore. It's like 3 in the morning."

"Yeah, speaking of which," Celeste said, relaxing back against the pillows, eyes meeting the ceiling again, "how'd you know I'd be awake?"

"When Stephen dumped me I couldn't sleep for days. Besides, I couldn't wait until morning and I just finished my homework, so I figured I'd call."

"You had all weekend to do that homework."

Alyssa sighed. "Do you not know me?"

Celeste closed her eyes and let herself relax. "Let's talk about this tomorrow at school, okay? I really should _try_ to sleep. If I fall asleep in Geometry on the last week of school, my mom will never forgive me."

Even though she knew the girl on the other end couldn't see it, Alyssa nodded. "Alright. I'll see you tomorrow, C. You know I love you."

"I know."

After Celeste hung up and put the phone back on her side table, she curled up and didn't try to stop the tears. She buried her face into her pillow. Her heart was shattering more and more each second as she thought about him.

_I got a first class ticket to a night all alone and a front row seat up right by the phone because you're always on my mind, and I'm running out of time._

Her phone rang again and she looked up.

"Simon," said the caller ID.

Her breath came faster and faster. She just stared at the buzzing phone. It stopped and Celeste assumed voicemail had picked up. She closed her eyes but the buzzing began again. She groaned and grabbed it.

"What do you want?" she whispered.

"What did Madison tell you? Whatever it was, it was a lie."

"What are you doing up at 3 in the morning?"

"I couldn't sleep. I tried, but I can't stop thinking about you. Dammit, Celeste, don't you dare believe anything Madison said. She…came on to me the other day. I told her I didn't feel anything for her and she...took it badly."

"I imagine she would. You're a catch."

He laughed without humor. "Celeste, please just tell me you believe me."

"You were really studying?"

"Actually, I was trying to get up the courage to tell you something by going to see my brother in the city. I drove back and showed up at your door to pick you up and your dad said you had left already because I was late. When I went to the restaurant, you weren't there. Celeste, I didn't—I wouldn't—"

"You wanted to tell me something?"

He paused. "Oh. Um. Yeah."

"Well…tell me."

"I'd rather tell you face to face."

Celeste swallowed tightly. "Simon, if you say you didn't...do anything with her, I believe you. But just tell me. I can't stand anymore secrets."

"I love you."

"Wh-what?"

"I was trying to get up the courage to tell you I'm in love with you and I want you to move in with me when I go away to college next year. You can still go to Goode—the subway drops you off right near campus—but I just got a little apartment smack dab next to NYU and I took it. It has two bedrooms and a kitchen and everything. But I don't want to lose you, Celeste. I don't want to take the chance that just because I'm gonna be gone more next year you might…find someone else. So, move in with me."

He waited for Celeste to answer, but she was staring at the wall in front of her, mouth open, shocked.

"Celeste?"

"I love you, too, you know."

He gave a small, breathy laugh. "Yeah, I know."

"I don't know, though, about…moving in together. Isn't that…a little fast?"

"We've been dating for a 13 months."

"I'm not even 17, yet. How would my parents—my _father_—feel about me moving in with a college boy? Besides…I'm not sure I _want_ to."

There was a pause as Simon considered her words. "Just consider it, okay? And we can ask your parents together if you change your mind."

"Alright." She glanced at the clock. "I should go to bed."

"Not yet. I love you, Celeste."

"I love you, Simon."

"Hmm, could you…turn around for a second?"

Celeste quirked an eyebrow and sat up, turning. Her hand flew to her mouth. Sitting on her fire escape was a handsome Goode senior with a phone pressed to his ear and a smile on his lip. Shaggy blonde hair was falling in his eyes.

"Can I come in?"

"M-my parents are sleeping."

"I promise to be quiet."

Celeste, still staring at the boy, closed her phone and walked to the window, opening it and stepping back so he could enter her room. He smiled and pulled her into his arms, kissing the top of her head.

"I love you."

She closed her eyes tight and grabbed onto his shirt. His strong arms squeezed her. "I've changed my mind," she whispered into his chest. "I'll move in with you."

He laughed. "Something about my hug change your mind?"

"I guess I didn't realize how much I've missed you." She looked up at him, smiling. "Do you wanna spend the night? As long as you leave before my parents find you."

Smiling, Simon kicked off his shoes and pulled off his jacket. "I like your PJs, by the way."

Celeste glanced down at her shorts and tank top and smiled. "Come on." She grabbed his hand and pulled him into her bed under the covers. He wrapped his arm around her waist and buried his face in her neck as she squirmed back into his chest. Warmth spread through her.

"I love you," he whispered almost silently. "I love you." He repeated it again and again, but Celeste's slow, even breathing told him she was already sleeping comfortably in his arms.

0000000000

"Are you insane?" Percy Jackson shouted at his daughter. "You are _not_ moving in with him! I can't even think why you would imagine we would let you!"

Annabeth put a hand on her husband's arm but her gaze let Celeste know there was no way she was winning this one. "Celeste, no. You're too young, it's too soon, and he's…" Annabeth glanced at Simon, who was holding her daughter's hand tightly. "Simon, you're a very nice boy, but there's just no way this is going to happen. When you're in college, Celeste, we'll reconsider."

"Mr. Jackson—"

"Simon," Percy said warningly, "I like you. Please don't make me your enemy by arguing with me about this. She's my _daughter._ You can't honestly think I would let her move in with you. I know Celeste trusts you to take care of her and I trust Celeste's judgment, but this time, I'm putting my foot down. I've already allowed way more than my parents did when I was dating."

"It was different back then, Dad!" Celeste hissed. "Come on. Please, please, please!"

"No!" Percy demanded. "It's not happening."

"Celeste," Annabeth said, taking a step forward to put her hand on her daughter's shoulder, "trust us when we say this is because we love you. If I had tried to move in with your father before college… Well, my mother would have put a stop to it right away. She tried to stop me from marrying him."

"Mom—"

Simon squeezed her hand. "It's okay, Celeste," he said, kissing the top of her head. "Come on. Let's go—we're gonna be late for the movie." He looked back up at the very red Mr. Jackson and the sad-faced Mrs. Jackson, nodding. "Nice to see you again."

Celeste huffed and tugged her boyfriend out the door.

When they were gone Percy collapsed on the couch next to his wife and pulled her close. Annabeth rested her head on his shoulder and her arm on his leg. Percy suddenly felt like a teenager again and the urge to see if he could get to second base flashed through his head. Unfortunately, his wife spoke first.

"She's gonna do something stupid just because we said no."

"She's reasonable. She knows we can't, on good conscience, let her move in with a boy. She's not ready."

"Maybe." Annabeth squirmed closer to him. "Simon was being pretty understanding about it."

"I'm not letting my daughter live alone with a college boy. Do you remember what we did when we were in college? And we weren't even living together!"

Annabeth smiled. "You can't honestly expect your daughter to stay a virgin her whole life, Percy."

He shuddered. "Fine, but…I expect her to be one for a long, long, long time…"

"That's not totally realistic, Seaweed Brain."

He twisted a piece of her hair around his finger and bent to kiss her. "It's bad enough her boyfriend is two years older than her. For all she knows he could be experienced already. Gods, I'm going to kill him if he breaks her heart."

"You and me, both. But you know what—we just have to trust her. She knows the rules. Hopefully she'll follow them."

She doesn't.

**A/N: I realized it was Sunday and was like, "OMG! I NEED TO UPDATE!" and so I wrote this as quickly as I could. The song at the beginning is Heels Over Head by Boys Like Girls. I do not own the song or PJO! Review, please!**

**Love always,**

**E. M. Zeray**


	7. College

**A/N: I decided to torture you guys some more by not following up my last cliffhanger;) I can tell you that, by this time, Simon is not in the picture anymore… But that doesn't mean that he won't be in the future! This is a slight filler to show you guys her college years—told ya I'm skipping around! **

**These are mainly showing that she's taking advantage of the fact that she's not at home anymore and can do whatever she wants—they also have a bit of humor, I hope, and show her growing a bit. Sort of a filler…**

Freshman—

Her first year was only slightly sane. After an excessive amount of homework, sleep deprivation, and getting caught by Alyssa half-dressed in a fountain on campus with half a bottle of crappy beer on the side and her lips attached to those of a former "just friend," she realized that this whole college thing wasn't really working out. And that was only the first semester.

She got her first C, and then her first D, and when she tried explaining to her mother that it was only because she had failed to attend class a couple times, it didn't help.

By the end of the semester, she had shaped up, starting getting As and Bs…but no, that was far too boring for Celeste Jackson…

Two words… Spring. Break.

Sophomore—

When both Alyssa and Celeste decided to dye their hair funky colors to celebrate passing midterms, they didn't consider the fact that semi-permanent dye doesn't come out easily, nor that, while hurrying to get it out in the shower so that they could go meet their respective boyfriends for dinner with their parents, (Logan and Hunter were best friends and had been since elementary school, just like their girlfriends) it would stain their backs pink, purple, red, blue, green, and orange.

Despite more events like this, Celeste made it through her second year at Brown relatively unscathed but had vowed to never enter another wet T-shirt contest again.

Junior—

This was the year of the improved work ethic, and the year that Celeste resolved to finish all of her papers at least a week before they were due. With friends like Alyssa and Carson, though, that didn't always happen.

It seemed to be her most casual year, probably the calm before the storm as Senioritis would be setting in soon. She returned to New York during winter break, along with Alyssa, to check out apartments. The two agreed to live together while Alyssa wrote her novel and Celeste went to NYU's graduate school—she hoped to get involved with NYU's Department of Psychology so that she could be a forensic psychologist, much to the chagrin of her father, who was still wondering where her dream of being a mermaid princess had gone.

Senior—

Celeste Jackson was 22 years old when she decided that gods were pretty annoying. For gods' sake, it was her damned college graduation and Poseidon and Athena just had to barge in all important-like and then get too excited when her name was called as if she was a child! Her friends were here—hell, _Simon_ was here! And, yes, maybe her heart gave a little flutter when she looked at him and remembered, but it didn't matter because they hadn't really talked since their breakup… No, no, Celeste! Bad thoughts! Focus on the fact that… Holy Zeus, was her dad really engaging in a civilized conversation with her grandmother?

"Presenting your graduating class of—"

**A/N: Don't worry—I will address the cliffhanger of last chappie in the next chapter, I promise. Thanks for reading—I've noticed that this isn't one of my more popular fics—and I hope you sincerely enjoyed and look forward to more! (BTW, sorry for not updating recently; school got the best of me.)**

**Love,**

**E. M. Zeray**


	8. Brennon Stoll

**A/N: If you would read this note, everything in the chapter would make so much more sense! Please!**

**Wow, it's been awhile! Sorry for my absence but I hope this makes up for it! First, some things:**

**There are three character in this chapter that belong to Cap'NCupcake. We wrote the chapter together. Dario, Chevy, and Brennon are Travis and Katie's triplets, and they have an older sister Mary, who was born before Travis and Katie were married. Dario is gay and has a boyfriend named Kevin, Chevy is a manwhore, and Brennon and Celeste…are dating.**

**Also, in Cap'NCupcake's stories—which you should read because they're amazing—Katie and Annabeth don't like each other very much, resulting in a kind of Romeo and Juliet situation…except without the death.**

**This is basically **_**the three times Brennon and Celeste got caught making out and sustained minimal embarrassment, and the one time they both feared for their lives.**_

**Enjoy!**

When Celeste found out that Brennon and the rest of his siblings were demigods, it kind of turned her world on its head. Her _boyfriend_ was a demigod. A demigod with no legitimate powers, sure. But a demigod. Just like her. She wasn't quite sure whether this was good or bad.

On the one hand, she had a boyfriend who she could actually spend the summer with and could gripe to about god/goddess-y stuff openly. On the other, she had a boyfriend that had two brothers who were _also_ demigods and who kept getting in the way.

Since the whole disaster with Simon a few months earlier and the subsequent dates with Brennon that resulted in actual relationship status, it hadn't all been sunshine and rainbows. There had been dealing with Dario—who was one of her closest friends and a fellow classmate for the past two years—after he'd discovered that his brother and best friend were suddenly together, learning to not feel guilty when Simon witnessed the blatant display of affection that was Brennon, as the varsity quarterback, asking Celeste to officially be his girlfriend in front of the whole school during the end of the year assembly, and finally, going to face the summer alone.

"_I'm going to summer camp," Brennon grumbled. "My parents want to take some stupid vacation without us and so Dario and I are going to Chevy's camp and… Well, I don't know but I guess we're not gonna see each other very much."_

_Celeste swallowed around the lump in her throat. "I go to camp every year."_

"…_oh."_

"_But it's okay!" Celeste hurried to add, forcing a smile onto her face. "We'll be nice and distracted and then everything'll be great when we see each other again."_

"_I'm gonna miss you."_

_Grinning, Celeste threw her arms around her boyfriend's neck and said, "I'm gonna miss you more," before pulling him into a kiss._

But then Celeste had arrived at camp, noticed a swarm of girls around what Daisy (from the Aphrodite cabin) called "the hottest new camper to ever show up", and it had been Brennon. They adjusted quickly with minimal awkwardness, and Celeste was overjoyed that she'd found a boyfriend her father might actually like! Except that, y'know, her mom wouldn't be pleased.

It was common knowledge that Katie Gardener and Annabeth Chase didn't exactly like each other. And when either, or both, discovered that their children were dating… The proverbial shit was going to hit the proverbial fan.

Still, they couldn't pretend to care, not when they were so happy that they got to be with each other. They spent the whole first day together at camp, talking about their parents, and then, when they were sitting together that night in the stadium, Celeste got her first Camp Half-Blood campfire kiss.

It only took two days for camp activities to sweep them away to the point that Brennon barely ever saw her. Celeste handled sword training, hung out with the friends she hadn't seen since the summer before, and was generally absorbed in the things going on at camp.

Brennon, as a demigod legacy with no trainable powers, basically…watched stuff.

The time apart made time together all the more valuable—especially considering that it was a brand new relationship between two almost-seventeen-year-olds who really just wanted to maul each other's faces off all the time. Unfortunately, Camp Half-Blood wasn't really the most convenient place in which to proceed with face-mauling activities. And if things kept being, erm, frustrating, Brennon was pretty sure his head was going to explode.

-0-

"We just need a place to be alone," Celeste groaned, plopping onto the grass. Around them, campers were half-heartedly practicing fighting techniques on dummies or against each other in the heat.

"There's gotta be somewhere you can go at this camp where we can be by ourselves. This place is huge."

"All of the cabins are being used for one reason or another—even the stupid Poseidon cabin is being used for strategy for tonight's Capture the Flag game. My stupid aunt, my only roommate, had to be captain." She looked up at him. "Aren't the Demeter kids out in the Strawberry Fields or something? Oh, forget it, you wouldn't know," she added quickly, sighing at her hands in her lap. "I keep forgetting you're a newbie."

"It's not my fault I don't have any cool powers or whatever," Brennon said sadly, sighing as he plopped down on the hard ground next to his girlfriend.

Celeste smirked, leaning her head on his shoulder. "Sorry, sweetie."

They sat in companionable silence for a while before Brennon sat up straight, making Celeste's head fall off of his shoulder. "What about the lake?" he asked suddenly, looking back at her confused frown with wide eyes and a smile.

"You do realize that it's about 200 degrees out, right? Half the camp will be at the lake."

Brennon let out a groan and flopped back, his head hitting the soft earth with a small _thump_. "I hate this," he mumbled, a hand thrown over his face to block the sun. "All I want to do is make out with my girlfriend. Is that too much to ask?"

"I don't know how anybody manages to have a relationship here," she said quietly. "You'd think the inability to ever have alone time would drive them all insane. How does your brother do it?"

"You mean Chevy?" Celeste nodded. "It's because he doesn't have relationships. Nor does he have self respect. He'll make out with a girl anywhere. One time, I walked in on him and Shelby Hicks from my Algebra 2 class _on my bed_. And after he obviously noticed I was in the room, they just kept at it." He shook his head. "I mean, at least when one of us catches Dario and Kevin they stop and act like they're embarrassed."

"If only we were sluts. Then we could make out anywhere we wanted." She sighed wistfully and when Brennon shot her a look, she laughed. "Kidding. Kind of."

He shook his head in thought. Throwing down his arm in a fit of rage, he announced, "The woods. We have to make out in the woods. It's the only option."

Celeste bit the inside of her cheek, forcing herself not to laugh at his obvious frustration. She understood far too well. "Satyrs, nymphs, other creatures. Other, not-so-friendly creatures."

"Broom closets," he whispered after a pause, nodding his head as if satisfied with what he had just said. Celeste looked at him in confusion. "There has to be a broom closet somewhere at this camp! Where else would they keep all the brooms they use to clean it up?" He guffawed. "Problem solved."

"...I'm not even going to bother with that one. Brennon, just face it, we're gonna have to live with—oh." She cocked her head, considering. "Well… There might be somewhere…"

Brennon sat up immediately, almost clunking heads with his girlfriend. "Where?" he asked, far too eager. "I can't go an entire two and a half months without kissing you, Celeste!" He lowered his voice and practically whimpered. "I can't."

"Well, if we got far away enough from shore, there might be the possibility that we could be alone… Depends on how many people are actually there…" She looked up at him. "I'm not making any promises. It's been a while since I've tried to make an underwater bubble for two."

His excited smile faltered. "Who, uh... Who else have you been making out with underwater? Did that Simon guy— Did you guys ever... ya know? Did— Did he even know? About all of this? Cuz, I mean, you didn't even tell me. I had to find out when I got here..."

"What do you mean 'ya know'?" she asked, her eyebrows scrunching together. "Simon was my boyfriend, Brennon. We kissed. We wanted places to be alone. He knew—but don't turn that against me. He found out before we were even dating and just because I didn't tell you doesn't mean I don't feel…really strongly about you." Her voice got softer at the last part and she looked away, clearing her throat.

Brennon sighed sadly and shook his head, leaning in closer to grab her hand softly. "Look," he started, trying to catch her gaze. "I-I'm sorry. I just... don't really like thinking about you with other guys—past boyfriends or not." He shrugged and gave her a small smile. "I can't help but be a little jealous seeing as I feel real strongly about you, too."

"I understand." She faced him again, tilting her head up to him. "But you should know that how I felt about Simon… That wasn't this. This is…different. Good different. I…" She smiled, her gaze darting to his lips for a moment before returning to his eyes. "I kind of just want to be around you or talking to you or kissing you all the time."

Brennon couldn't help his small grin as he leaned in closer and closer. "Then do it," he whispered. "Kiss me _all the time_…"

Celeste swallowed tightly—she was still nervous about kissing him because gods, he was so much sweeter and slower and yet deeper and more raw of a kisser than Simon had been. She wasn't used to it and it was a good thing. His kisses were sent straight to her fingers, her toes, her belly, warming her and increasing her hunger for these kisses. Increasing her hunger for him.

Without a word, without looking around to see if anybody was still there, without any sort of precaution, Celeste closed the small gap between them and their lips met. She'd missed this. All of this. It was too wonderful to compute.

His fingers tangled in her hair as he ran his tongue along her lips, requesting access to the rest of her mouth. The kiss was suddenly hotter and wet and Brennon swore he heard a shaky moan escape her lips. Oh, Zeus…

"Ugh!" A loud groan interrupted them, making Celeste immediately break the kiss and pull away, blushing to her roots. "Get a room!" She looked up to find Brennon's brother, Dario, staring down at them. He had bright green sunglasses perched on his nose which clashed with his orange camp shirt that he had cut the sleeves off of, leaving gaping holes on the sides that exposed his pale, hairless chest.

Brennon sighed loudly through his nose and glared up at him. "What do you want?"

Plopping down on the grass across from the couple, Dario crossed his legs and set his elbows on his knees, resting his chin in his hands. "Loving brother of mine," he began sweetly, "I was just wondering if you wouldn't mind letting me borrow your phone." He gave him a big smile and tried to look as cute as possible.

"What happened to your phone?" he said without emotion, glancing over at Celeste who was staring at her nails, her blush finally residing.

"It _died_," he whined dramatically.

"Then go charge it."

"You see, that's the thing," Dario began, sitting up straight so he could motion with his hands. "If I went to go charge it, I would have to sit in the boring old cabin by myself while it charges so I could text Kevin at the same time. _But_," he exclaimed with wide, excited eyes as Brennon sat in boredom and sexual frustration, "If I use your phone, I could charge mine while also texting Kevin and watching all those shirtless Apollo guys play volleyball on the beach at the same time."

"But... you have a boyfriend," Celeste said slowly with a nod.

"Exactly! If I'm texting him while I'm watching them, it makes me feel a lot less guilty." She stared at him with a raised eyebrow. He sighed. "If it makes you feel any better, I sent him pictures and he totally agreed with how hot they are."

Brennon let out a melodramatic sigh before pulling his phone out of his pocket. "Here," he said, handing it over. Before Dario's fingers could close tightly around it, Brennon pulled it back and held it to his chest. "Just... Don't, like, sext him or whatever, okay?"

Dario rolled his eyes and stood up, grabbing the phone and immediately starting to press random buttons. "Puh-lease," he began as he walked away. "We only do that when I borrow Chevy's phone."

"So..." Celeste turned to her boyfriend again. "Wanna take our chances with the lake?"

-0-

Celeste was heading towards the exit of the Big House on a Friday night when she heard shuffling behind her. The hair on the back of her neck stood at attention and she placed a hand on her sword as she spun around slowly. The only people in the building at the moment should have been Mr. D, Chiron, and various other counselors, all preparing for bed, but no, there were footsteps…

She spun on her heel, pulling her sword from its sheath.

Brennon yelped, jumping back. "Whoa! Watch when you're pointing that thing!" he whisper-shouted.

"What are you _doing_ in here?" she hissed as she put away her sword. "You should be in bed!"

"I…couldn't sleep," he said softly, shrugging his shoulders and stepping closer. "Plus, I kinda had a feeling you'd be down here."

Celeste glanced around. "It's nearly curfew. We could get in trouble if we stay here too long."

Stepping closer and rolling his eyes, Brennon sighed, "Nobody's going to catch us." He placed gentle hands on her hips, bringing their bodies even closer. "And even if someone does find us, what's the worst they would do? Send us to the corner?"

"Depends on who catches us," she said quietly, eyes flickering down to his lips. "Wait." She pushed him back, her hands on his chest. "We're not doing anything here. Not now."

"But _whyyyyy_?" he whined far too loudly as Celeste turned around once more and headed back towards the exit.

She faced him again in an instant, covering his mouth with her hand. "Shut up!" she hissed. "If Mr. D walks down here and finds you—finds _us_—you don't even want to know." At Brennon's arched eyebrow, she whispered, "He'll tell our _moms_."

His eyebrows furrowed in fright. "B-but," he stuttered once Celeste removed her hand, "your mom already hates me enough."

"I don't like the idea either. So, you go back to the Hermes cabin and I'll go back to the Poseidon cabin and we'll have plenty of time to be together tomorrow, okay?"

Brennon followed her out of the Big House with a pout. "Like we're even going to have time alone tomorrow!" he complained noisily, causing Celeste to turn around sharply to glare at him. He held up his hands in defense and mouthed an apologetic, "Sorry."

"Well, we'll make time. Or something." She grabbed his hand as the door closed behind them. "Come to my sword-fighting lesson. We'll have a bit of time then."

He tried not to roll his eyes. "But I wanna make out with you _now_." Celeste raised an eyebrow. He shrugged. "Just being honest."

"I'm pretty sure you'll survive. The sooner you go to sleep, the sooner tomorrow is here." After a second's hesitation, she squeezed his hand before wrapping her arms around his waist and hiding her face in his chest. "Goodnight."

He sighed as he hugged her back tightly, burying his nose in her hair and taking a deep breath. She smelled like coconuts and the ocean which, in theory, sounded really weird together but he had quickly been addicted ever since he first smelled it months back. "'Night," Brennon whispered quietly, placing a lingering kiss on her forehead with his eyes shut tight.

Celeste looked up, about to step out of his arms, and paused. Well… One little kiss couldn't hurt…right?

Brennon noticed her gaze dropping down to his lips and smirked. He was getting rather good at this persuasion thing. He should join the debate team.

Thoughts of political conversations and matching sweaters flew out of his mind, however, as he saw Celeste tilting her head up more and her eyelids fluttering shut. He gladly leaned the rest of the way down to connect their lips with a happy sigh.

He had come to the epiphany a couple weeks ago that he actually enjoyed kissing Celeste more than he liked football which was really saying something. Her mouth was just so soft and she always tasted so good and the high that came with kissing her was the best feeling he had possibly ever felt.

As Brennon placed a hand on the small of her back and pulled them closer together, he bit lightly on her bottom lip, eliciting a soft moan from Celeste and making him smile.

"Now that's just horrifying."

Celeste jumped back and Brennon sighed, releasing her from his arms as he turned to his brother. "What do you want?"

Chevy grinned. "I was planning on sneaking into the Big House because everyone knows that Mr. D keeps all of the good, unhealthy snacks in there. And here I find my brother and his girlfriend—who is looking particularly delightful in the moonlight by the way—eating each other's faces off. It kinda throws my whole night out of whack."

"First of all," Brennon said, stepping in front of Celeste, "mine. And second, I will kiss my girlfriend wherever I want to and it's none of your business."

"Actually, uh," he began as he started coming forward with that smug smile of his, "it is some of my business."

Celeste, who had quickly stepped from behind Brennon, gave him a small glare before speaking, "How is that?"

"Well, you see, this isn't the first time I've done this." At their confused faces, Chevy rolled his eyes and explained. "'This' as in the whole sneaking out of the cabin after curfew and trying to steal things."

Brennon sighed in frustration and crossed his arms. "And?"

"_And_ when Mr. D caught me the last time, I lied and told him it was because I was diagnosed with some weird sleeping disorder where it was physically impossible for me to fall asleep before midnight. Like Cinderella except I don't turn ugly, I just fall asleep."

"Oh, so exactly like Cinderella," said Celeste earning a glare from Chevy.

"Anyways, he told me I can help out the harpies until 12 if I want. He doesn't even pay attention yet he totally trusts me so if one of his hundreds of bags of Cheeto Puffs goes missing..." He shrugged innocently, that ridiculous smile never leaving his face. "I didn't see a soul."

"What does that have to do with us?" Brennon asked with a roll of his eyes.

"Well, I could actually do my job for once..."

"You wouldn't do that!" he practically shouted, making Celeste elbow him in the ribs. He hissed in pain as she whispered for him to shut up. "You wouldn't do that," he said much more quietly, Chevy smiling smugly. "I'm only your brother."

"Yeah." He nodded as his grin finally faltered, a look of utter devastation crossing his features. "Some brother. After what you did this morning?"

"...what?"

He huffed in frustration and crossed his arms, turning away slightly as if he couldn't bear to look at his brother. "You know Cinnamon Toast Crunch is my favorite."

Brennon confused to stare in confusion. "..._what_?" he repeated.

"This morning. At breakfast?" Chevy asked, eyebrow raised. Brennon stayed silent. Sighing, he explained further. "I was three behind you in line and you _knew_ it, and yet when you went to get your cereal you grabbed the last damn Cinnamon Toast Crunch."

"So," Brennon began, stepping closer just to make sure he was heard, "you're threatening to turn Celeste and me in because... of _cereal_?"

"Hey!" Chevy exclaimed, pointing an accusing finger in his brother's face. Celeste shushed him quickly.

"What is with you Stolls and your volume problems?" she whispered half to herself.

They ignored her.

"You know what Cinnamon Toast Crunch does to me."

"Dude," he deadpanned. "It's just_ cereal_."

"Yeah? Well it'd_ just_ be a call to your parents and then a week's worth of stable cleaning," he said, his head held high. He was not going to let Brennon get to him.

"Brennon," Celeste hissed, sending him wide, desperate eyes before turning quickly to Chevy with a sweet smile. "We're leaving, don't worry."

Chevy nodded smugly. "That's what I thought."

-0-

Brennon sat on the sidelines of the arena silently, watching as the class of campers swished their swords around and stabbed the air. Celeste stood up at the front, conducting with her own sword slightly in hand. He had decided about an hour back that he could definitely watch her mess around with a sword all day long if he had to.

The way she slashed and stabbed and waved it around like it wasn't life-threatening at all mesmerized him. She was just so graceful as she tripped her opponent and stuck the tip of the metal to his throat before smiling, showing off her perfect teeth, and lending a hand to help him up. Celeste had just thrown her hair up in a ponytail at the beginning of class, but now bits and pieces were falling out and Brennon wanted to push them back out of her face for her. And the look of concentration on her face as she fought was just downright sexy.

He was so caught up in his thoughts of what was under that armor that he barely heard her start talking.

"Alright, take your swords and run to the end of the beach and back… Four times, I think." Her class groaned and she smirked. "Don't make it five."

As the campers broke off into groups and started heading to the beach as slowly as they could possibly go, Brennon stood from the bench and walked towards his girlfriend. "You were, like, _awesome_," he said, nodding his head persistently.

She turned to him, smiling softly. "Well thank you. But I'm sweating buckets, my hair's a mess, and half of my class is dead on their feet."

"You look fine," he almost whispered, stepping closer and pushing her hair back just like he had been wanting to. Smiling down at her, he couldn't help but notice how pretty she really was, no matter if she was sweaty or gross or dirty. Her blonde hair was still reflecting little glints of light and her cheeks were pink, making her seem even more innocent and beautiful than usual.

"Yeah?" she muttered. "Not too gross?"

He smirked and shook his head. He bit his bottom lip as he inadvertently glanced down at hers. "Never," he mumbled, slowly leaning in closer and shutting his eyes.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," she said, ducking out of kissing distance. "Not so fast. We can't…"

Brennon rolled his eyes and followed her back to the benches where she began to take off some of her armor. "What's with you dodging my kisses lately?" he asked, eyebrows raised. Celeste opened her mouth to defend herself, but when she saw his playful "I'm trying to be funny" smile, she glared. "I mean, are you trying to tell me something here, Celeste? Do I have terrible breath? Am I a bad kisser? Are you planning on breaking up with me to get with that Sebastian kid who was totally flirting with you fifteen minutes ago?"

"First of all," she sighed, tugging her hair out of her ponytail and tossing it around her shoulders, "your breath is fine, you're a wonderful kisser—honestly, just like mind-blowing, I promise—and I would not leave you for _Sebastian_." She spat the name as if it tasted bad on her tongue. "He's a kiss-ass and he only flirts with me because he idolizes my father."

"My dad said that I'm not even allowed to say that your dad is cool or else he and Uncle Connor will hurt me." Celeste gave him a strange look, making him shrug. "Just saying."

"The point is, we haven't been kissing a lot lately because… Look, I want our kisses to be perfect, y'know? And a few rushed make-out sessions with scatterings of people around, while pleasant and fun, are not the way I want to remember my first summer with you."

He frowned and let out a sigh. Stepping closer, he shrugged his shoulders. "I'm sorry," he said softly. "I'm just... a boy with all of these hormones and it's actually rather hard to control them, to be honest." He sent her a grin. "There's also nobody in here right now, just so you know. And I've run that beach. Five times around... Well, I'm guessing it'll take quite a bit of time..." Brennon smiled knowingly and raised his eyebrows.

"But that's the thing—'quite a bit of time' is never enough time." She wrapped her arms around his waist loosely. "The more time we get, the more I want and it's just… Never enough."

He sighed and let her hug him, lightly placing his hands on the small of her back. "Well if we'll never have enough time," he argued softly, "we might as well just make the best out of the time that we _do _have."

She lifted her head, smiling softly. "You know, you make a valid argument."

Brennon smirked down at her and decided that, _yes_, he was_ definitely_ joining the debate team next year.

As their lips met softly, Brennon sighed and pressed a forearm against her back to move their bodies closer together. She went willingly, hands lazily twisting in his slightly curled hair. They rarely had time for any kissing at all—much less slow, thoughtful kissing. And it was nice.

Celeste licked Brennon's lower lip as their tongues brushed together and he made a choked off noise before deepening the kiss. He really loved kissing her. It felt like minutes and hours at the same time, like he could never get enough but it was already too much. He could die from her kisses or gain the strength to live forever.

Just as Brennon took dominance in the kiss and tried to pull her even closer to his body, a loud noise came from behind them. It was strange and a mixture of a gasp, a yelp, and a whinny. The couple broke apart quickly and turned to see Chiron, making Celeste's blush deepen even more.

"I-I'm so sorry," he stuttered, shuffling his hooves around and averting his eyes. "I just, uh, wanted to poke in and see your class." Brennon could have sworn the centaur was blushing.

"They're down at the beach," she said while trying to subtly inch herself away from her boyfriend. Chiron was the last person she wanted to walk in on them. He was somewhat of a grandfather figure to her, always had been. What if he told her mother? What if he told _Brennon's_ mother?

"Ah. Yes. The beach." He shuffled around awkwardly. "Why the beach?"

"They're, uh, running."

"Right, well… Keep up the good work. And, uh, Mr. Stoll, your brother was looking for you a moment ago. Over at the Strawberry Fields."

Brennon nodded. "I should go see him, then," he said, looking from Chiron to Celeste and back again. They all stood in awkward silence for a bit. "I'll go see him now." As he turned to leave, he stopped in front of Celeste, not sure how to say goodbye to her. A kiss, even on the cheek, seemed too vulgar in front of Chiron. He awkwardly patted her on the head before hurrying out the side door and towards the Strawberry Fields.

"Just…use protection," Chiron mumbled before leaving just as quickly as he had come.

-0-

_Where was he?_

Celeste ran through the Strawberry Fields, skidding to a stop in front of Dario. "Where is he?" she shouted. "Where is Brennon?"

Dario stared up at her, eyebrow raised in question. "The last time I saw him," he said slowly, truly trying not to give her too much attitude because _woah, chica, check yourself_, "was at breakfast." Shrugging, he pulled out his phone and started to text. "He stole the last Coco Krispies. I'm mad at him."

"Oh, my gods, it's just cereal." Dario gave her a look like she had just killed his parents, spat in their coffins, and then danced on their graves, before he laid a hand over a little lump in the ground. "Now—did he tell you where he was going? And can you speak quickly? I'm in a hurry." She emphasized her point by hopping a bit on her tippy-toes.

He sighed and rolled his eyes as he moved his fingers back and forth and helped the small plant grow. "After I yelled at him, he might have mentioned something about going to hang out with the satyrs. He enjoys their company because, like him, they don't really have any powers either." He threw back his head and laughed loudly at his own joke. "I should be a comedian."

"The satyrs?" she shouted, exasperated. "It'll take me forever to find him! Ugh! This is just like him! When I finally get some time…" She huffed, kicking at the dirt.

Dario watched her angry mumbling with a smirk. "Someone's sexually frustrated," he said in a sing song voice.

"Oh, like you've been getting any on a regular basis! You've haven't seen your boyfriend since the last day of school! How are you so damn cheerful?"

"Two words," he said, pushing his phone way too close to her face. "Picture. Messaging."

"You're shameless. But if you'll excuse me, I'll be leaving now. If I hurry, I can get a few moments alone with my incredibly hot boyfriend." She ruffled his hair lovingly before racing off again.

Fortunately, her hurried perambulating brought her to Dario's brother. Unfortunately, it was the wrong one.

"Woooooah," Chevy exclaimed as Celeste raced towards him, almost running into him as he came around the corner. He grabbed her arms to help steady her, glancing down to admire the things that that orange camp T-shirt did to her curves. "Slow down there, Speed Racer." Subtly pulling her in closer, he added, "And if I may say, you are looking mighty fine this wonderful morning."

"I don't have time for this right now, Chevy—have you seen Brennon?" She shoved him as he grinned, one hand sliding up her side slowly. "Watch it, Mister."

He shrugged in a "At least I gave it a shot" manner before shaking his head. "He was over by the beach about a half hour ago, but he's probably wandered off since then. The Aphrodite girls were splashing around in the water, you see, so I was a bit distracted. I mean, have you seen that Jennifer Stanza? _Dayum_," Chevy exaggerated with wide eyes and a broad smile. "There is no way those boobs are real!"

"Yeah, can you hold in your manwhore personality for just five seconds and go back to the part about Brennon at the beach? Did you see him_ leave_ or was maybe saw someone else talking to him later…?" She snapped in front of his face when his eyes suddenly went cloudy. "Hey! Stop thinking about Jennifer Stanza's boobs!"

"I'm sorry," he said with a grin that showed he was obviously not sorry. "But they're just like," he mimed grabbing a pair of breasts and squeezing, "_wow_."

"…you're not helpful. I need to find Brennon. I… Okay, let me put this in terms you can understand: I finally have time. Brennon and I finally have time to… Y'know. Be together. To…kiss and…stuff."

He smirked. "Wanky."

"Do you know where he is or not?"

Chevy looked up to the sky and paused for a second as if he was really thinking about it. He opened his mouth before glancing back down at her and quickly shaking his head. "No."

"Great—goodbye," she said, glaring for a moment before hurrying off again.

Brennon walked across the row of cabins, watching each one pass by him slowly. He wasn't having a very good day so far. Dario had yelled at him during breakfast, he'd hardly seen Celeste because she was in some archery class, Chevy totally ignored him while they were at the beach, and now he was stuck walking around like a loner all by himself.

Just as he turned to walk up the stairs of the Hermes cabin where he had planned on taking a nap, he noticed Celeste over by the first few cabins. As soon as she saw him, she came sprinting over as quickly as she possibly could. Brennon stood there and watched in amazement. Since when could she run that fast?

When she finally reached him, she roughly grabbed his arm in a tight grip, yelled "Sophie is out of the cabin but only for so long and we have to go now because I wasted so much time looking for you no thanks to your stupid horndog brothers and we need to go make out because you're leaving soon and this might be our last chance and we need to go _now_!" all in one breath, and dragged him back over to her cabin.

Brennon had absolutely no idea what she was talking about. He had only heard about half of what she said, but he let Celeste drag him along anyways. "What're we doing again?" he tried to ask her as they raced in between campers and towards Cabin 3, but she ignored him. Throwing open the cabin door, she rushed inside and pulled her boyfriend in after her. As soon as it shut close, she pushed Brennon up against the hard wood and practically attacked his mouth.

And he suddenly understood what she was talking about earlier as she forced open his mouth with her tongue and ran her hands down his sides.

And he fully approved.

Finally regaining his senses and his ability to move his hands, Brennon pulled her closer by her hips and moaned into her mouth. Their tongues battled for dominance, his winning out in the end. She ran her hands up his chest, one stopping to grip the fabric there while the other came up to pull on his hair. Brennon broke the kiss momentarily to let out a groan of pleasure. She knew just what to do to get him riled up. He kissed her satisfied smirk away.

As Celeste nibbled on his bottom lip, he began to walk forward toward the bed he knew to be hers. She stumbled backwards, but quickly straightened up and as soon as they were close enough, she pushed him to the bed and straddled his hips, attaching their lips once more.

Trails of heat were left on Celeste's sides and back as Brennon's ran his hands over her body. They had made out plenty of times before, not much lately without being interrupted, but none of them were quite like this. This was so much more...intense than normal. Every kiss was arousing, every touch was searing.

She felt like she was going to combust if he didn't keep touching her, kissing her, holding her. It was all too much and not enough—never, ever enough—all at the same time.

"Never stop," she sighed, shifting her hips so that they were pressed together even more closely and kissing desperately.

"Never," he breathlessly agreed.

He fell backwards slowly, taking her with him, and her hair—which she had left down, thank the gods—made a silky curtain around them as they shifted and Celeste rested her elbows and forearms on the bed, staring down at her boyfriend with fascination and large pupils.

"Beautiful…"

And then they were kissing again and Celeste was suddenly underneath him with one knee hitched against his hip as he kissed down her neck and back up, over her throat, her jaw, and sucked on her earlobe. Well, she never knew… Wow…

The warmth in her belly that had made itself known the second she'd seen him was suddenly back with a vengeance and was begging her to just reach out for the hem of his shirt and tug. He was crazy about her and just as hormonally-driven as her. He would totally take it off. Brennon Stoll would be shirtless in her bed.

And so she fisted her fingers in the orange material and pulled up slightly. Brennon was a bit distracted by some apparently fascinating piece of skin on her collarbone and it took him a moment, but then he moved just enough and the shirt was half-way up his back and his mouth was on hers once more. Huh. Well. The shirt could wait because that… She could never get enough of that.

His hands traced over her legs slowly, lovingly, as if he was memorizing her with his hands. When they separated, their shallow breaths mingling in the air, she expected him to say something hot to match the situation, or something adorably awkward to match him, but instead, he gasped, "I love you."

Celeste stared up at him with wide eyes, her mouth agape. Had she heard that correctly? Did he really say that...he loved her? By the quickened beat of her heart and the expectant, almost puppy dog look on Brennon's face, she guessed that yes, he had indeed said that. And by the small frown and kicked puppy dog look now appearing on his face, she guessed that she really needed to say it back before losing her boyfriend forever.

"I-I love you, too," she stuttered out quickly, her voice barely above a whisper. The small smile that appeared on Brennon's swollen lips made her heart flutter. She grinned back at him as she slid a hand up behind his neck and brought him down for a kiss, one that was the complete opposite of the ones previous. It was soft and sweet and yet so meaningful all at the same time.

Brennon slowly separated her lips with his own before sliding his tongue in to meet hers. Celeste moaned softly and wrapped her arms around his shoulders to bring him in closer. He rested one forearm on the bed next to Celeste's head, being sure not lay it on her hair while the other hand softly caressed her thigh.

Her skin was just so soft and intoxicating, and her body just seemed so small and fragile under his. As her fingers tangled in the hair as the base of his neck, he couldn't help but grind his hips down into hers, bringing out hearty moans from them both. He stared down at her lust-filled eyes and kissed her hard as she flipped them back over with surprising strength.

As she kissed up and down on his throat, sucking on a spot just below his jaw, he threw his head back on the pillow and just tried to remember how to breathe.

Suddenly, out of the corner of his eye, he saw a shimmer of something. Just as he went to figure out what was there, Celeste's lips left his jaw and rejoined his. Squeezing her hips tightly, he kissed her back just as hard. His fingers drifted down to the hem of her camp shirt. He began to slowly slide it up her back (which seemed to be even softer than all her other skin—Brennon didn't know that was possible!), but quickly dropped the fabric from his fingers and broke their kiss when he heard an all too familiar, "Ahem!"

They both looked over at the floating image of Brennon's mother, Katie Stoll, glaring down at them from an Iris Message. Her arms were crossed across her chest angrily and her nostrils were flaring. Celeste scrambled from his lap as quickly as she could, sitting as far away from him on the bed and glancing shamefully down at her hands.

"H-Hey, Mom," Brennon greeted with a shaky smile, sitting up straighter while trying to flatten out his hair.

"_'Hey, Mom_?'" she exclaimed, eyebrow raised. "That's really how you're going to greet me right now?"

He shrugged. "Well, I could go the more formal route, and say _hello_, but-"

"Stop it," she snapped. Brennon stopped. He glanced over at Celeste to find her bringing her knees to her chest at the end of the bed and looking terrified. "I don't even know what to say to you right now."

"Sorry for not knocking?"

"Brennon," Katie hissed through gritted teeth. "I am very disappointed in you."

"Why?" he asked, suddenly angry and frustrated. "Because I was making out with my girlfriend?"

"Yes, actually!"

"What's the difference between Mary's age and yours and Dad's anniversary again?"

Katie opened her mouth to say something rude, but bit her lip to stop herself at the last second. She took a deep breath before speaking, "Look, your dad and I... We didn't do it right when we were younger. We know that. So we decided that our kids weren't going to do that either. You're not getting Celeste pregnant and I'll make sure of it if it's the last thing I do!"

"We weren't going to have sex! I wasn't going to get her pregnant!" He threw out his arms in frustration.

"Nobody ever thinks they're gonna have sex! It just happens! All you're doing is making out and having a nice time when BAM! Sex!"

Brennon shook his head angrily. "That's not fair though! Kevin and Dario make out _all the time_. You know about it and you're fine with it."

"That's different. Dario's not going to get Kevin pregnant." Brennon let out a sigh and crossed his arms, his nostrils flaring. From her spot on the other side of the bed, Celeste could see the eerie resemblance between the mother and son. It was actually kind of adorable. "I just don't want you throwing yourself around like you don't matter—"

"Because I matter, I know. Dad already quoted that for me, thanks." Brennon rolled his eyes and shook his head.

"And Celeste matters too," Katie said, almost sounding pained at the idea. "You know I'm pretty much the opposite of thrilled with this whole thing but I don't want either of you screwing up your lives so quickly."

"We weren't going to have sex," Celeste said softly, echoing Brennon's previous sentiment. "We never have time to be alone together. We were just… Messing around. We haven't even talked about sex yet."

Katie rolled her eyes. "Yeah, okay," she said sarcastically, trying not to glare over at the younger girl who had that same damn perfect hair as her damn perfect mother. "That's why he was about to take your shirt off."

Celeste glared over at Brennon who sent her a sheepish grin and a shrug. "Look, Mom," he began, turning back to the Iris Message, "I am sorry for making out with my girlfriend. I promise I will never ever do it again." His deadpan voice just continued to make Katie increasingly angrier.

"Don't be sarcastic with me! This is serious! I have half a mind to come pick you up right now!" And she looked like she meant it.

Celeste gasped silently as Brennon frantically shook his head back and forth. "You can't do that!" he practically shouted, making Katie raise an eyebrow. "I barely have a week before I leave for football camp and I won't be able to see her until school starts."

"That's not my problem," she said with a sharp shake of her head.

"Mrs. Stoll," Celeste began softly from her spot on the bed, "if I may, while Brennon and I have had the entire summer here together, this is Camp Half-Blood. With all the activities and people and training going on, we've barely had any time to actually _be_ together." She wrung her hands together in her lap. "This is the first time in a long time that we've both had nothing to do, so can you really blame us for using it to spend time together?" she asked politely. "I mean, when you were at camp, didn't you ever just want some time alone with Mr. Stoll?"

Katie sighed, averted her eyes, and crossed her arms again. "Look, that's…different." Brennon let out a frustrated groan and began to protest, but she held up a hand to silence him. "I'm not going to argue with you right now, Brennon, okay? Your dad and your sister have already pissed me off enough today… But…" She let out a sigh and pinched the bridge of her nose. "I will tell you that the Strawberry Fields is a great place to be…alone."

"Wait… What?" Brennon asked, head cocked to the side in confusion.

"The Strawberry Fields," she repeated, already regretting what she was saying. "If you go out far enough and at the right time… You can be alone for hours." Brennon slowly turned to his girlfriend with wide eyes and a sly smile. "Hey!" she snapped, bringing his attention back to her. "Just… I swear if you get that girl pregnant, I will kill you. Both," Katie added sending a glare Celeste's way too."

"I swear, you have nothing to worry about," Celeste said. "And thank you. I know you don't like me that much, but… Yeah. Just…thanks."

Katie couldn't help her small smile. "You're welcome." Straightening her back and turning back to Brennon, she said, "You better be ready next weekend. I don't want to wait around and have to talk to old friends or whatever. And tell Dario and Chevy they have to be there too. I need to see them." She frowned, "I miss my babies."

"I'll tell them, Mom. Promise."

"Good." She gave him a sharp nod and a small smile. "I have to go, so you two…" Katie trailed off and waved her hand towards the couple, at a complete loss of words. "Bye," she muttered quickly instead as she sliced her hand through the image and ended the message.

"So," Celeste said. "That wasn't that awkward." Brennon nodded but continued staring at his hands. "Is the moment ruined now?"

He nodded once more, slower this time. "Little bit, yeah."

"Yeah. So… Raincheck. Tonight. Strawberry Fields?" She smiled, biting her lip.

He grinned broadly over at her. "I think I can do that."

**A/N: Yay! Happy endings!**

**Hope you enjoyed; hopefully I'll be writing more PJO stuff this summer and beyond. Don't forget to go check out Cap'NCupcake, as we'll probably continue writing the rest of this fic together.**

**Love,**

**E. M. Zeray**


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